Twice Times Forever
by SimplySupreme
Summary: She had been here forever, and forever she would remain. There was nothing here but pain, as everything else had been taken from her. Nothing but the pain... THREE-SHOT - Arya POV of some time in Gil'ead. Rated for graphic torture scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**_AN: Hello! So as it says in the summary, this is pretty dark. It's going to be a three-shot, so this chapter is the first of two others focusing on Arya's frame of mind while she was imprisoned in Gil'ead. (This being more of an intro than anything really.) I left the writing intentionally rough here, because I want to reflect what's going on inside of her here. So, let me know how it works, ok? Enjoy. :)_**

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><p>No one had ever told her that life was easy. No one had ever mentioned that it was fair, or even fulfilling. But she <em>had<em> been told that it was beautiful. And it was this lie that caused her more pain than the slashes on her body or the burns in her flesh.

When she had first arrived here… when she had been unacquainted with the Pain, she had believed that nothing held beauty to compare with life. Now she could see how wrong she was. The only beautiful aspect to life was that it could end, and now even this was denied her. Forever she had been here, and forever she would remain. Perhaps one day she would be taken to Uru'baen, but until that time, the Pain loomed over her with all the authority of fate itself. And who was she to argue with fate? Most certainly, she would die here. After all, there wasn't anything left for her to live for anymore. Everything that she had ever had had been taken from her. Taken. And now it was gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone. And all that was left… well, there was nothing, if that could be considered something.

Not even the trees or the birds or the sky remained. Suddenly, she was swept with an overpowering desire to see them again. To see the grass and to touch the flowers: to scent the crisp air that slipped across the world in little eddies after it rained… how she used to love the rain. She loved the cool of it that trickled through her hair and over her skin, and she loved the sound of it; the _drum-pa-pum-bum_ that it created as it struck the earth with undying persistence.

Undying… like her. She wasn't dead, and under no circumstances would she be allowed to become so until she divulged her secrets. But like the rain, she knew her mindless task and would cling to it for eternity. She would never give up, even if, sometimes, she couldn't remember why this was so important.

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><p><strong><em>The others are longer, I promise. And reviews magically make them become longer and get done faster... *hinthint* :)<em>**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Some not so nice things are done to our favorite abused elf in this chapter, so be warned! :/_**

**_Also, the capitalized He and Him does NOT refer to God. This refers to Durza, because he was the biggest thing in her life at the moment, and I don't use names in this fic (if you haven't noticed) because Arya's trying to distance herself to what's happening to her. Hence, He and Him. Ok? Good. :)_**

**_Oh, and some gigantic thank-yous to reviewers _**_Writer of the North, Massa, Totally Random Solembum, ToLazyToThinkOfAGoodName, Inkweaverabc,** and** arya 54329**. Your encouragement means a lot, lot, LOT to me. I love you all! *hearts***_

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><p><em>Crack<em>. Unable to take the strain any longer, her shoulders ripped from their sockets, causing her to let loose an agonized scream. Waves upon waves of fire wracked her body, but she did not voice anything other than her original wordless cry, even though useless tears ran down her bloodied face. She couldn't move her arms, and, looking, she could see bone standing out unnaturally against her slick, reddened skin. When she didn't continue to scream, one of the guards reached over and struck her on the side of the head, and she could feel blood trickling down her face.

Carefully, someone took her trembling hand in his. She didn't have to look to know that it was Him. Disgustedly, she closed her eyes, waiting for fresh agony to tear through her. But suddenly, birdsong erupted through the room. Just the sound, the voice, of the joyous little bird singing just for the task of singing brought a radiant smile to her face. It hurt, to smile, for not ten minutes earlier, hot brands had been pressed forcefully into her cheeks, and her face was now a mess of blood and blackened, oozing flesh. But smile she did through the blood, because the bird was happy. Something in this world was _happy_.

_Crack_. Someone, it could only be Him, twisted her finger, and the bones snapped audibly. But she didn't cry out this time, and the bird didn't stop singing to her. _Crack_. Another. _Crack._ And just as swiftly as it had come, the bird's voice was gone. She was back in the cold, dank room that _had_ no voice. She was still stretched out, bloodied and broken, on the harsh plank table that was stained with so much of her blood, over so many days, while He snapped her fingers one by one. _Crack. Crack._

His contemptuous voice reached her, even though it sounded as if it came from a thousand miles away. "Still nothing to say, elf? Very well. Rot in your cell until I next have time to attend to you, pathetic creature."

Haughtily, she turned to Him and spat contemptuously in His face, causing Him to snarl in spite and anger, before whirling away in a billow of black cloak and crimson hair.

Rough hands grasped beneath her dislocated shoulders, hoisting her to her feet, and for a few seconds, her vision went black with Pain. But slowly, her senses returned, and flashes of bright color danced mockingly in her field of vision as she was dragged down the hall and thrown roughly back into the stone block that she didn't see as fit for habitation. It wasn't _like_ home. Home… at the thought, she was suddenly, magically, _there_. Perched atop a thick branch in a mighty pine. Warmth suffused her from the auburn rays of the setting sun, and she closed her eyes in utter bliss. She could hear the soft voices of her kin babbling all around her, as well as the air passing lazily through the trees and the ambience of the animals. The bark of the tree was rough upon her hands: hands that were, upon further inspection, mutilated beyond recognition.

She frowned. She was home, in Ellesmira. This wasn't right…

In a rush, her home vanished as though it never were, the transition causing her to lean over and dry heave. In all fairness, perhaps home never _did_ exist. The single candle that illuminated her space guttered pitifully, and despair washed over her. Home was gone, just like everything else. How could she have possibly forgotten?

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><p><strong><em>Is anyone else a little weirded out over the insane contrast between my bright, cheerful ANs and my dark, depressing writing? I think I'm giving myself whiplash... :P<em>**


	3. Chapter 3

**_So... the last one guys. I hope by now that I've proven my (admittedly selfish) point. I am a versatile authoress! I am capable of writing to extremes or moderations even within the same category! *parties* I certainly hope that this proved it to you. Trust me, sometimes I bummed myself out writing this, but I think that the result was worth it. Thanks to everyone who's read to this point. :)_**

**_Thanks to reviewers _**_Writer of the North, RestrainedFreedom, Inkweaverabc, TooLazyToThinkOfAGoodName, The Meepsta, Pie in the Face,__** and **Massa**. You are all completely awesome and are such great readers to review! (And don't worry, I read EVERY review, so even if it's a thousand years from now I'll still love you if you review!) :D**_

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><p>She stared with desperate, helpless longing at the moon. It's bare, round face that she had once thought so lovely seemed to laugh at her from its freedom, glaring down the lofty rosebush that had sprouted through the roof of her prison mockingly. More than anything in the entire world, she wanted to go to it. She didn't want to stay here, where she was worse than dead. She would have loved to die. The rosebush offered freedom.<p>

But this was denied her, and now even the moon laughed at her before fading away like the vision it was as she lay there, unable to move even to save herself. She was going mad, she knew. Why, just last night she had felt someone _looking_ at her even when that was impossible, as no one was actually present. Now, she doubted even the rose was real. That little white rose that had achieved so much by taking root and offering to set her free. But a little white rose wasn't enough. Nothing short of a… of a _dragon_ could set her free now! Weakly, she chuckled to herself. She was such a fool.

With that, she drifted off into a fitful sleep. But she didn't remain that way for long, as her cell door banged open, it seemed, as soon as she closed her eyes. It was useless to attempt to move when they came, she had learned. It scared them, and they made her suffer for their fear. It was undignified, but she let them drag her bodily wherever they wished to take her. In any event, she doubted she would be able to walk by herself.

Dragged down the hall, shoved through the door, dropped on the floor, mocked, kicked, spat at, picked up, rolled onto the table, strapped down, taunted. She knew the routine step by step that they followed every day. The only thing that ever changed was how He hurt her. But it didn't matter how He did it, the result was the same. Blood, screaming, mocking, and silence. She never said a coherent word to Him in _any_ language, and this displeased Him. He punished her, but she never gave in. Like the rain. It kept coming back, and it would come back for several eternities. Just like her, living in her agony forever. Together, she thought idly, they'd be quite a match, her and the rain.

The knife raked across her bare back, severing muscle and sinew alike, and scratching notches into whatever bones it happened to come in contact with. It never touched her spine, because He needed her alive. Still, this did not stop Him from deliberately pouring a small vial of liquid into the gushing incision. Screaming as it came into contact with her insides, she flattened herself away from it, but it came despite her, searing and clawing. Even only semi-conscious, she could feel her flesh bubbling and sizzling unpleasantly.

"Such a pretty face…" He crooned patronizingly, gazing at her with the maroon eyes that betrayed the fact that He had no soul, filed teeth glinting, "Tomorrow we shall improve upon it. Take heart, elf. Tomorrow shall come quickly." Viciously, he lashed out at her with his fist, sinking the blow into her ribs. Her only response was to cough up blood in His general direction, spattering him, and to black out for a time.

But it mattered little when and where she woke up, she decided. For how could one fight against forever? And she had been in here with the Pain for two _times_ that long. She had never awoken anywhere but behind the solid door of her cell, and it was here she awoke this time, barely able to move. Dejectedly, she stood up just for the sake of remembrance that she once could. She once was strong, and could run, jump and climb. Yet all of that seemed like a minor, pointless accomplishment to the fact that she could _stand_. But she almost fell over again when the door to her cell was suddenly flung open by a person who was most definitely not a soldier. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, and she could see in them this new man's panic, disgust, horror, and great compassion. They were not the cold, empty eyes of Durza, whom she had resisted flawlessly for this long. This new boy's eyes were rich and warm and beautiful.

_Don't you _dare_ hope, Arya!_ she warned herself. But she didn't listen. Collapsing roughly on the ground, she lost consciousness again, but with a slight lift in her heart.

She hadn't seen kind eyes like that in twice times forever.

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><p><strong><em>HaHA<em> Durza! Eragon came and got her! Then he's going to kill you! *taunting dance* Stick a straw in that juice box and _suck it_! XD**

**_Thankyouthankyouthankyou for reading all the way to the end. You people make me so happy! Please leave a little review so I'll know how I did! :)_**


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